Usually, with words of three or more syllables, don’t add -er or -est. Use more or most in front of the words. Never use both the -er or -est suffix and more or most.

Example:efficient, more efficient, most efficient

Incorrect:He is more efficienter at using the PowerPoint program than his boss is.

Correct:He is more efficient at using the PowerPoint program than his boss is.

Some words have irregular comparative and superlative forms.

Examples:bad, worse, worst
good, better, best

Incorrect:She is the best candidate of the two for the job.

Correct:She is the better candidate of the two for the job.

When comparing most -ly adverbs, keep the -ly and add more or most.

Incorrect:She spoke quicker than he did.

Correct:She spoke quickly.She spoke more quickly than he did.

Incorrect:Talk quieter.

Correct:Talk quietly.Talk more quietly.

Pop Quiz
Are these sentences correct or incorrect?

1. She is even curiouser than her little brother.
2. I can run more faster than you can.
3. I can run more quickly than you can.
4. My brother is the youngest of the two of us.
5. She is the best of the two sisters at braiding hair.

29 Responses to “Adjectives and Adverbs: Forms for Comparison”

hello Jane,
First of all let me thank you very much for your amazing grammar blog. I discovered it recently and it halps me a lot. I am currently in the process of improving my english grammar ( I am not a native speaker) and I can say your blog is a very useful tool for me. Searching through your archive i got the answer for most of my grammar dilemas.
God bless you for this blog

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, quick, quicker, and quickest are all adjectives. Note: “In speech, ‘quick’ is commonly used as an adverb in phrases such as ‘Come quick.’ In formal writing, however, ‘quickly’ is required.”
The Random House Dictionary states pretty much the same thing.

May I say Jane that your website is amazing; just what I have been looking for. I have on question though: when do we use ‘quicker’ instead of ‘more quickly’ and vice versa? This has confused me a little and although you page was a big help, I still could not find an answer to this.
I’m looking forward to a reply.
Thank you very much, Jane.
Regards.

I came across your blog after I heard many uses of “fun” as an adjective. You wrote:
“Some one-syllable words, such as fun, are exceptions. You must use more or most with fun.

Example: Learning English grammar is more fun than I thought it would be.”

The reason we cannot say “funner” or “funnest” is because “fun” is most definitely a noun, not an adjective. The adjective that derives from fun is “funny”. However, “funny” has come to connote other things, so the word “enjoyable” encapsulates better the intentions of the speaker when he/she uses “fun” erroneously as an adjective.

So, the corrected form of your example (“You are the funnest person I know.”) is simply: “You are the funniest person I know.”.

However, the Oxford Dictionary concedes:
“The use of fun as an adjective meaning ‘enjoyable,’ as in we had a fun evening, is now established in informal use, although not accepted in standard English. The adjective now has comparative and superlative forms funner and funnest, formed as if fun were a standard adjective.”

Nonetheless, I do not think that your grammar website should promote non-accepted forms of grammar.

Thank you for pointing out the fact that one of the examples is in the wrong section. In the example “Learning English grammar is more fun than I thought it would be,” the word “fun” is used as a noun, not an adjective. It will need to be removed from the “Adjectives and Adverbs” section. I do not agree with you that the superlative adjective form of “fun” would be “funniest.” “Fun” and “funny” are completely different words. (Even on a personal level I know people who are “fun” but are not necessarily funny!) Even the nonstandard use of “fun” as an adjective would be: fun, more fun, most fun. “Funny” would be funny, funnier, funniest.

A client doesn’t like the strapline ‘a better understanding'; she says a comparative is meaningless without reference to what it is better THAN. I do understand the (rather narrow) grammatical point, but surely ordinary spoken English – especially ‘commercial’ English – is rich with such law-bending?

And what seems most important is clarity. If a company says ‘For a better holiday’ or ‘For a more comfortable journey’, the omission of ‘than your previous holiday / usual journey’ isn’t important, is it?

Yes, spoken English certainly does differ in formality from written English. Your client makes an interesting point. A sentence without the rest of the comparative explanation can still be grammatically correct. In the phrases you mentioned, a better understanding, a better holiday, and a more comfortable journey, the rest of the comparative is implied. In less than formal writing, the rest of the comparative is only needed where there could be confusion over what the first part of the sentence is being compared to.

hi, please can you sort out this mini grammar issue for me.
‘maria ______ in her group. i have 2 options, “works the quickest’ or works the most quickly’ which one is correct please and why do you think so. I think it is ‘works the quickest.’ Prove me wrong.
thanks for this excellent site. look forward to hearing from you soon.

Very, very sad indeed. As we note on the GrammarBook.com website under the “About Jane” tab, Jane’s husband, who worked with her on all aspects of the book and website from 2004 until her death, assumed ownership of the website. While no one can truly replace Jane, he assembled a skilled team to answer people’s inquiries with as much of the same conciseness, thorough research, and lightness of heart as possible.

In your example sentences, the words much and more function as adjectives, but are often termed determiners. Determiners precede and contextualize nouns.

Until recently, traditional grammar and many dictionaries did not take determiners into account. Many determiners were classed as adjectives. Today many grammarians prefer to distinguish determiners as a separate class from adjectives.

The Chicago Manual of Style says, “Some adjectives with two syllables take the ‑er suffix {lazy–lazier} {narrow–narrower}, but most two-syllable adjectives take more {more hostile} {more careless}.” This wording seems open to interpretation and there are writers who believe that some two-syllable adjectives can use either “-er” or “more.”

All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of the author. You may not alter or remove any copyright or other notice from copies of the content.